Salamero Square in Zaragoza: Reclaiming the Ground
Salamero Square reimagines a damaged underground parking deck as a contemporary public landscape. Working within strict structural constraints, the project replaces conventional solutions with lightweight construction, extensive planting, and climate-responsive urban elements. New green infrastructure, shaded gathering spaces, and pedestrian-oriented circulation transform a vehicle-dominated site into an active civic square. The intervention reveals how technical necessity can become the catalyst for an urban space where ecology, infrastructure, and public life are integrated into a single architectural strategy.
The renovation of Salamero Square in Zaragoza stems from a public competition organized by Zaragoza City Hall, with the requirement of replacing the upper concrete slab of an undergrounded parking facility beneath the square.
In 2020 a partial sinking of the concrete slab of the parking caused by a punching shear failure of the columns. This necessitated the demolition and subsequent replacement of the slab while preserving the vertical structure and the existing foundation. The maximum values of the applied loads must be restricted compared to those used in the original design.
The intervention aims to revitalized Salamero Square area through a set of strategies:
_Mobility strategies: the project transitions from a space primarily to private vehicles to a pedestrian square that extends to its surroundings. The entrances to the undergrounded parking are redesign, regulating vehicle access to the square.
_Urban functioning strategy: a central open-air and dynamic space with mutigenerational zones is created.
_Greening strategy: the intervention views the structural failure not as an issue, but as an opportunity to create a new green area with minimal ground contribution and overloading. New planting technics are used, incorporating climbing vegetation to enhance vertical presence.
18 flowerbeds are incorporated with a total surface area of 1.447m2. Those located in the perimeter aligned with the vial axes, creating a green buffer between the square and the street. Inside the square, they are arranged organically. Their placement is determined by structural considerations.
The construction system is sorted out using metallic plates and profiles. The upper finishing profile works as a unified brace, also creating a continuous seating area. Flowerbeds are lightened by filling it with expanded polystyrene, ranging from 0.40 to 1 meter thick. Upon them, a vegetative substrate lightened with lower density is placed.
The planting surface creates a pronounced topography sloping towards the center of the square. The vegetation, comprising shrub and perennial flowersbed, are displayed in a shifting and dynamic manner, resembling a vertical canvas to the observer, enhancing the perception of green space. Additionally, each flowerbed contains 2 to 4 small trees.
3 linear metallic pergolas, resembling the geometry of the flowerbeds within the square, are designed. They serve to provided shaded areas in summers, while allowing solar radiation in winter.
In the corresponding segments two inclined shaded places are created with an overhang over the stationary zones: one crafted by climbing vegetation supported by the pergola itself; while the upper one is built using rope weaving, drawing inspiration from traditional Aragonese basketry.
In the independent sections of the flowerbeds, only a vertical shade plane with braided rope is maintained.
The pergolas are conceived not only as a shaded structure, but also as a support for:
_The already mentioned climbing vegetation, seizing the metal tensioners, and crafting “green walls”.
_Water spray channels, minimizing heat perception in warm periods.
_ Illumination of the square using a continuous double LED strip.
_Ornamental fountain, crafting a digital projection curtain”.
_Signage, including the city’s name into the metallic structure.
The link between the parking lot and the square is established through the construction of enclosures within the parking boundary aisles. These permeable structures, which allow visibility through them, are built with metallic structure, glass enclosure, and covered by a folded metal plate.
Two of them house the pedestrian communication hubs, while the rest are allocated for the installation of the necessary systems to ensure the proper functioning of the parking facility.
A kiosk, also build with metallic structure and glass enclosure, is intended for flower sales.
The square is pavemented by a continuous concrete slab. Despite its unitary natura, zoning can be observed within:
_The incorporation of two children’s play and equipment area, delimited by a shock-absorbing pavement.
_Inside the central space, next to the digital curtain, an area with large cobblestones strips is included, adding value to this space.
_A platform-bleacher with multiple uses is displayed.
In this way, the square is envisioned as a lived space intended to citizens, revitalizing this area of Zaragoza’s historic center. Despite the pre-existing undergrounded parking facility along with its constraints, efforts are made to design a green space that retains the urban values as well as incorporating sustainability criteria and vegetative elements.